It was exactly 2:00am in the wee hours of the morning that Zane returned to the little house. Slowly, he opened the door and when he peeked inside, he breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that the girl was fast asleep, ' Thanks goodness!'
His hands and the front of his jacket were covered in blood, and he didn't want her to see him that way. With hurried steps, he went into the bathroom and washed his hands before he began to remove his clothes
"Tsk, Killing this way sure drains a lot of blood," There was no expression on his face as he washed the blood off his coat, arranged his stuffs into his bags, and then cleaned up himself.
He returned to the room after a shower only to find Layla panting and mumbling in her sleep. Zane frowned, hesitated for a brief moment, and then bent over to pat her shoulder. His action seemed to calm her down as her breathing became deep and steady.
Deep in thought, Zane watched her till she turned sideways and then climbed onto the bed. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed twice before looking at the girl again, mumbling
"There are two type of people in this world. The puppet and the puppeteer. And we are on the same side, Layla." As soon as he turned off the light bulb, he fell asleep.
*************
The alarm went off at 7:00am, and Zane was immediately up to his feet. He woke Layla up and they both changed into simple attire after brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Layla wore the clothes Zane gifted her along with her white sneakers, while Zane wore a denim jacket, jeans and an expensive black sneakers. He held his briefcase, and gave Layla a large backpack to carry. Without much questions, Layla slung the backpack over her left shoulder and followed her saviour to her new life.
***
They wasted no time reaching the train station, and Zane left Layla standing at a corner to go and buy their tickets. Excited to leave, Layla slowly looked around the station, her home town and a man sitting on the bench caught her attention-- Not him, but the front cover of the newspaper he was reading. She panicked at the sight. Although she was an illiterate, she could understand the picture. A person totally covered in blood, his left hand was detached from his body and his face...his face....she could recognize him anywhere. It was her ex master. 'Oh no!' Her face grew pale and clamping her mouth shut, she took a step backward in fear, ' What had happened to him?'
Zane joined her at that moment and when he noticed her fearful expression, he asked, " What happened?"
"It...is... it is my...." Layla words were stuck in her throat. She couldn't complete her sentence and just pointed to the man with the newspaper. Zane followed her finger and saw what she was referring too. He scoffed and dragged her with him to the other side of the station. " I am not interested in hearing about that, okay?"
Layla didn't respond, she just followed him with a blank face and Zane didn't give a single fuck about her attitude. They stood on the platform waiting for the train when some one ran to the station shouting "Fire, Fire. The building is all burnt."
All the waiting passengers were stunned with the news, and some of them ran out to see the burnt building.
Zane watched them with a blank face, he didn't seem bothered at all. As a resident of the place, Layla was so curious. She wanted to follow along, but when she saw Zane's stony- face, she stopped and forced herself to remain calm.
The train arrived in less than fifteen minutes, and they boarded it sitting side by side. Zane leaned in the seat, and closed his eyes to relax completely ignoring Layla who had put aside her worries and was now looking around, looking at everywhere with wide huge eyes. Her first time leaving the slum, she was amazed at the number of cars and the huge buildings.And although a bit nervous, she was looking forward to life in the big city.
The train arrived in Quezon city- one of the biggest city in the Philippines and Zane ordered for a taxi which took them in front of a five storey building. Layla eyes popped out of its socket when she saw how tall it was. Her head almost touched her back as she stared up to the highest floor.
"Let's go," Zane scoffed silently at her and led her to the elevator. The elevator was empty and Layla shivered a little as she stepped into the box like structure. She may have heard about it, but she had never seen one before. She looked around as Zane pressed a button, observing the numbers and the arrows. The elevator began to move upwards and she gripped Zane's arm tightly, closing her eyes In fear.
He glanced down at her but said nothing. His mind were filled with a lot of thoughts and questions, and Layla's fear was the least of his worries.
'Ding!' The elevator reached the fourth floor and stopped. The door opened, and Layla felt at ease. ' Finally! Some fresh air and light.' She released the breathe she never knew she was holding. And with shaky legs, she followed Zane to the front of door 405 and watched him as he punched in some numbers, opened the door and walked inside.
" Come inside," She heard him say. When she entered, her eyes roamed around in bewilderment.
" You are living here?" She blurted out foolishly.
"Why" Zane glanced at her, " Do you not like it here? Is my apartment that bad?"
'What? His apartment?' Layla turned her gaze to him, speechless. She wanted to tell him how beautiful his apartment was, but failed to find her voice.
"Aish! Why are you silent again, your Majesty. I hate to be ignored, I hate it when someone keeps me hanging, " He half yelled, and only then did Layla find her voice
"Yes..Yes..I like..Like ... this place very much," She stuttered her response and bowed her head to thank him.
Zane rolled his eyes and went inside his room to keep his bags. And Layla who was still trying to understand the beautiful house moved around slowly like the tiles will break from her weight. Although the house wasn't all that big, but to Layla it was like a palace. A comfortable sitting room, nice bedroom, bathroom, a spacious kitchen, and a drawing room. She moved around the rooms, her eyes round and clear and Zane couldn't help but smile lightly seeing her expression.
It was almost mid morning, and when he checked his fridge, he noticed he needed some groceries. So he instructed Layla to wait for him, and then left for the mall.
He returned in no time after spending about thirty minutes buying the basic things. And when he stepped inside, he found Layla sleeping on the floor. Hearing his footsteps, she jumped up, startled
' Why does she seem scared?' He wondered, observing her. When she turned her face away from him, he shrugged the thought away and began to arrange the drinks, fruits and groceries inside the fridge
"Go take your bath, Kid," He told her, " I bought some food, we will eat after that."
Layla opened her mouth to say something, but Zane beat her to it. " Oh! You don't have any clothes." He said,as if reading her mind and then went into his room. Opening the closet, he picked out a simple shirt and a brand new brief for her. " Now, you can go take your bath," He gave them to her.
Layla took the clothes, mumbled an appreciation and then went into the bathroom.
Zane resumed stocking up the fridge. Suddenly, he heard a loud thud. He looked around trying to figure out what the sound was, and then he remembered Layla.
Rushing to the bathroom, he knocked at the door.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
But all he heard was a grunt, and that only increased his worry.
"Did you fall?"
No response
"Reply me," He shouted, and that was when Layla answered
" Yes," Her voice was so low Zane almost didn't hear her, " but it is alright now," And she seemed not to be alright at all.
"Open the door," Zane demanded.
"I'm alright,"
"I said open. the. damn. door." He gritted his teeth as he spoke. Layla could hear the anger in his voice, and she quickly reached for a towel and wrapped it around her before opening the door.
"Where does it hurt?" He asked as soon as her face came into view. She touched her head.
Zane stared at her, puzzled as he tried to understand the situation. The soap fell on the floor, it shattered into pieces and made the bathroom floor a bit slippery causing her to kiss the ground.
" Tsk..Tsk.. Tsk," Shaking his head slightly, he allowed his eyes to roam over her body. A thin slightly curvy body with a smooth whitish skin. Layla reddened and looked down playing with her fingers shyly. 'What is this feeling?'
Zane moved forward to pick up the soap. Thinking that he wanted to touch her, Layla first instinct was to get away but her leg slipped. Fortunately! Zane managed to hold her in time, how fragile!
It was like time stopped for both of them as they stared into each other eyes. After a moment of silence, Zane said " Wash up quickly," Then he made her to stand upright and then rushed out of the bathroom, his body heating up
' What the hell was that?' He mentally slapped himself and cautioned his brain not to think of any nonsense–bullshit as he called it. He sat down by the window side and blew up a cigarette as he waited for the girl to be done.
A light sound made him turn his head in the opposite direction. And he was in time to see Layla come out from the bathroom wearing his shirt and the brief boxers.
Rising to his feet, he slowly walked to the bathroom to freshen up a little, and changed his clothes before going over to the small dinning table and setting out the food.
" Come, let us eat," He called out to Layla who had been watching him all the while. She nodded and joined him at the table sitting down opposite him. He dished her food, wordlessly and pushed the plate to her before serving himself. She moaned quietly savouring the taste of the food. It was so delicious that she was sure she would finish the whole plate. They were almost done eating when suddenly, Zane's phone rang. He checked the caller, and his expression became so tensed as he quickly received the call.
"Hello, mother ...Oh! You are here? Yes, I'll open the door right now." The call ended and he stacked up the plates in one corner and hurriedly cleaned the table.
"Go wash your mouth. And most importantly, make sure you behave yourself," He warned Layla sternly and standing up, he walked to the door and opened it. " Welcome, mother. Why are you here?"
Before leaving the room, Layla saw that a woman of about thirty five years entered the house and she arched her eyebrow in silent wonder.
'How can a woman this young be his mother?'
Tbc
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